Born, 1839, Died 1906
Married: Lidella Gibson
James and Mary Colquhoun, with their first child Frederick, came to Canada in 1844 and settled in Ayr where James opened a law practice. Soon the family moved to Berlin where James rented living quarters in Woodside, the home of John King (the father of William Lyon Mackenzie King.) Son Frederick followed his father in the legal profession and opened his first office in 1864 in the Devitt-Snider Block in Waterloo. He took on a partner by the name of MacGeachen. By 1893 the law firm was called Colquhoun and McBride. Colquhoun acted as village clerk and when the Town of Waterloo was incorporated in 1876, he continued as clerk and treasurer until 1898. From 1864-70 he purchased several lots in the Hoffman Survey at King and Union Sts. After his marriage to Lidella Gibson in 1884, he constructed a large, impressive red-brick home on this extensive property which was tastefully landscaped with an orchard, ornamental trees and shrubs. At the time of construction, Mary Street was just a laneway giving access to the rear entrance to the home and the accompanying stables. When Frederick died in 1906, the home and land was sold to H.E. Ratz. In 1925, Lincoln Stroh purchased the property, subdivided it and erected five homes. The original home was afterwards called the “Backwards Home” because the rear entrance abutted Mary Street but the front, facing King St., was totally obscured by the infilling homes.
Sources:
1. Marg Rowell. "Best Side of House Hidden", Waterloo Chronicle, August 29, 1973.
2. P. Whitney Lackenbauer, "The Backward House", Waterloo Historical Society, Volume 85,1997.
3. Obituary, Waterloo Chronicle Telegraph. April 26,1906
4. Marg Rowell, Ed Devitt and Pat McKegney, Welcome to Waterloo (Waterloo: Printed by Waterloo Printing Co., 1982)
5. Ellis little, Personal file
Frederick Colquhoun Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of Frederick Colquhoun from the Ellis Little Papers. This biography has been transcribed exactly as written. Ellis Little was a local historian, who was the principal of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School. On his retirement, he invested much of his time in researching and writing about Waterloo's history. The Ellis Little Papers consist of extensive notes, papers and historical works.
- Notes
- To see the original document please visit the Ellis Little Local History Room at the Main Branch of the Waterloo Public Library
- Date Of Event
- 1839-1906
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Colquhoun, Frederick ; Gibson, Lidella ; Ratz, H.E. ; Colquhoun, Mary ; Colquhoun, James
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.35 and ELP 63.42.4
- Collection
- Ellis Little Papers: Men and Women of Our Past
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Location of Original
- Ellis Little Papers
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
